Food in Bologna and Emilia-Romagna

Italians are fiercely proud of their culinary prowess and with good reason. It’s widely known among natives and visitors alike that some of the country’s best food comes from the Emilia-Romagna region, an area that lays claim to several things we take for granted as Italian staples. And of course, there’s much more that doesn’t quite make the export list to discover.

There are many famous ingredients that hail from the region – ingredients that are so well-known that it's hard to get a handle on how much they speak to the local flavors of a particular Italian region. One of the most famous cheeses in Italy, parmigiano-reggiano, is made in and around the city of Parma (hence the name), along with the buttery cured pork of prosciutto which has its own annual festival in the region.

The tiny town of Modena in Emilia-Romagna, just outside Bologna, produces true balsamic vinegar, and the area around Piacenza creates grana padano, a cheese similar to parmigiano-reggiano. Along with tortellini, lambrusco wine, piadina flatbread and mortadella (the origin of the processed stuff we’ve come to know as bologna), all of these ingredients serve as the basis for Emilia-Romagna cuisine and provide a rich menu of items to choose from.

The region's nickname isn't “The Fat” for nothing, after all. From dishes such as tortellini in brodo and tagliatelle al Bolognese to the signature lasagna, Italy is lucky to consider Emilia-Romagna a piece of its pie. If you’re in the area, be on the lookout for the dish of piadina and its corresponding “Piadinerie”kiosks around busy cities, which sell only folded, grilled piadina sandwiches. For dessert, try zuppa inglese, which quite literally translates to “English soup” and is basically the Italian version of an English trifle – cake, custard, and liqueur.